Open Primaries

Thursday, September 15, 2011

How About A Third Party?

THIRD PARTY

The pitfalls of a third-party candidacy (By Norman J. Ornstein and Thomas E. Mann, Washington Post Opinions) First, a third candidate can end up tilting the contest toward another candidate. In 2012, the nightmare scenario for us would be angry or demoralized independents and discouraged centrist Republicans gravitating toward the third candidate, enabling a far-right Republican nominee to prevail with a narrow electoral majority or with a plurality followed by a win in a deeply divided House. (Americans Elect, to its credit, has tried to draft electoral rules so that, in the plurality scenario, its electors would pledge to vote for the most centrist or reasonable major-party nominee.)

Ron Paul: Why Do Underdog Candidates Run for President? (By Palash R. Ghosh, International Business Times) Probably the biggest challenge to third-party candidates is the electoral rules of the major parties or state electoral laws. The Bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, a committee of representatives from both parties tasked with organizing general election debates, has mostly ignored the inclusion of third-party candidates unless there is enough support from the media and the public for their inclusion.